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i am the person who without fail is like "i won't get sunburned" and then gets horrible scorched. here are some herbal approaches to sunburns, for the fellow foolhardy (who don't: wear a hat! sit in the shade! build up sun tolerance gradually! take breaks!).
ROSE. this plant, my heart, i can hardly bear it. but i'll focus. so rose infused anything. honey. vinegar. non-alcohol-based witch hazel. rosewater. rose infused aloe. rose is yr friend, burned or not.
i keep rosewater mixed w/ apple cider vinegar in my bathroom at all times as part of skincare. but i am using it constantly when i have a sunburn. it will sting if any skin is broken but not in the hurting-you-way that alcohol stings.
herbalist rebecca altman has written beautifully on rose including some sunburn remedies w/ recipes here: https://wonderbotanica.com/newsletter-archive/rose-medicine
jan berry has a recipe for herbal ice cubes that i would like to try. i'd say chickweed would be a really lovely addition or substitute here as well: https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/natural-sunburn-relief but you'd have to think ahead, and the foolhardy rarely do
HONEY. you can put a drop or two of lavender essential oil in if you mix it really really well to add to cooling. this can be so nice when you are in the first 24 hours or so of the burn & heat is radiating off of the skin. but really the entire healing process, honey honey honey
VULNERARY HERBS. plants that encourage cell healing & growth. these include but are not limited to calendula, plantain, marshmallow, violet, chickweed. the last 3 are demulcents as well so they aid when there is dryness. all of them are pretty high in mineral content too.
w/ vulnerary herbs, i tend to make a strong quart of tea. i'll drink half of it & work w/ the other half as a compress, dunking a clean cloth in a bowl & applying it to the burn. you could also make a poultice.
BLACK TEA &/or WITCH HAZEL. both of these herbs are astringent & help the skin knit back together where there is damage. this can be a spray, compress, a wash, etc.
REST & HYDRATE. a burn is taxing on the body. you need time to recover. you need rest. the body does a lot of its repair processes when you are asleep. you've also sucked a lot of water from the body. replenish. constantly. with herbs if possible.
DON'T stop taking care of your skin just because it's looking better. keep at it. don't do the thing you do to yourself where you're like i'm well enough to work so i must be all better, i can stop with all this caretaking stuff. also stop doing that to yrself if you can.
DON'T work w/ oils or salves until all the heat is truly truly truly out of the body or the heat can get trapped. if the skin feels really dry & itchy & cool to the touch, you can test out some salve. but water-based preparations or honey are best here.
other ideas: seaweeds! even just a small piece of rehydrated seaweed can go a long way. it sticks to the body well, is FULL of minerals, & the water you rehydrated the seaweed in is super slimy & helpful too. aloe if you can make it yrself or get non-alcohol no additives version.
this thread is brought to you by this saturday's sunshine & my very red face. by today, my skin is no longer hot at all & needs moisture. so i'm still hydrating constantly, doing compresses, working w/ honey & rosewater, but feel comfy now adding olive oil into the mix.
